February 23- 30
The beach at Port Douglas
Our second Virgin Australia flight, from Melbourne to Cairns (pronounced like "cans") started off uneventfully enough. We showed up at the airport nice and early and were quickly checked in and through security. We found a little cafe where we had some coffee and I worked on my blog until it was time to head to the gate. When we got to the gate, the flight was delayed and it looked like we would miss our connection. (We had booked the cheap connecting flight instead of the convenient but more expensive direct flight). Very soon though, we were called up the desk. Virgin had transferred us on to the direct flight that was leaving in about an hour. That flight would actually get us to Cairns an hour earlier, so things were still on track. When we arrived in Cairns, we headed down to baggage claim. As the crowd dwindled, it was pretty clear that our bags had not made it to Cairns. We walked over to the luggage counter and the woman informed us that yes, the luggage had not made it, but no, it was not lost. It would be on a later flight arriving at around 4PM. Since we were staying an hour away in Port Douglas, she took our info and let us know that a courier would be bringing the luggage to our B&B later that day.
I must say, it is pretty incredible that this is the first major snafu we have encountered in our travels. My only regret was that I had gotten complacent in my packing. I'm always cold on planes, so I usually wear my heavier clothes and my hiking boots. (That also keeps the baggage weight down). But I normally pack an extra set of light clothes in my carry on bag, just in case. Unfortunately, I had not done that this time. So there we were in 90+ degree heat with about 90% humidity in very inappropriate clothing. We picked up our tiny rental car and headed to Port Douglas, praying our lodging would have Air Conditioning.
No worries there. We found By the Sea in Port Douglas on Trip Advisor the day before. The reviews were great, the place was right by the ocean and at $70 a night, the price was right. That price got us a cute little studio with a big bathroom,a patio out back, a fully stocked kitchenette and tons of extras. They had the things you might expect, like a grill area and a pool, but they also had free bikes, beach chairs, towels, coolers, books, DVDs and more. Luckily for us they also had free wi-fi and air conditioning. We decided to use the hot day to play catch up on our to do list, which for me was mainly about the blog!
Guess it was just as well that we didn't have our bathing suits. This was the sign outside the beach at Port Douglas. Yep, they've got crocs in these waters!
That afternoon we went to the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner. We figured we could make one of our "stretch" dinners that would work for two days. We headed back to By the Sea and got a call around 5PM that the courier had been called to get the luggage. Unfortunately it was another three hours before they arrived with our bags, so the first day was a bit of a wash as far as sightseeing goes. That was OK though because we both caught up on some things we needed to do.
The next day, we both fulfilled one of our wishes from our "Bucket List". We went snorkeling out on the Great Barrier Reef! It was an incredible experience. The boat was called Calypso and it was a 25 meter catamaran that operated out of Port Douglas. They picked us up in the morning and dropped us 10 minutes away at the marina where we boarded the boat with about 70-80 other people. The day was beautiful, the crew was really fun and the trip was really well run. They supplied everything we needed and took us to three separate dive sites. Before the first dive I was pretty nervous, to be honest. They had asked everyone to wear full body "stinger suits" to protect us from the Box Jellyfish that live in these waters this time of year. Even though you have the suit on, it's somewhat unnerving to know that there are things in the water that can seriously hurt, or kill you. And speaking of that, there are also sharks. Not the Jaws kind of sharks, I would not have gone in if they had those. Here there are reef sharks which are supposedly harmless, but still, just hearing the word shark is enough. Right?
Hanging out in the latest GBR Fashion, the Stinger Suit!
If you wanted to take pics and just generally be lazy, they supplied pool noodles to keep you afloat. It worked out really well since most of the coral was close to the surface.
So before that first jump into the water, I was pretty nervous. That lasted all of about twenty seconds. The water was bath water warm and clear, the fish were beautiful and the coral was gorgeous. It was just so easy to lose yourself in that environment and fear went out the window. Even after we got onto the boat after the first stop, and another couple told us a reef shark had swam right past them, I was still excited to get back in at the next stop. We didn't see a reef shark that day, but we did see a Humphead Wrasse, a giant, brightly colored fish. This one was just about as big as I was, but so silly looking there was no way you would think it would hurt you.
Some of the beautiful coral and fish we saw. Most of the pictures didn't come out very well, but trust me, it was beautiful.
The huge humphead Wrasse. I only wish there was a person in the picture so you could see how big it was.
The day was just fantastic and really well run. Besides the snorkel gear and stinger suits, they provided morning and afternoon tea (drinks and snacks) and a buffet lunch. As long as you had a bathing suit, a towel and the obligatory sunscreen, you were set for the day. It was a great day and by the time we got home we were exhausted, in the best possible way. We cooked up a stir fry with the leftovers from dinner the night before and settled into our studio at By the Sea for a very restful night's sleep.
Another one of our stretch dinners. Tasted delicious after a long day at sea!
The next morning we awoke to the sound of rain. Actually we awoke to the sound of torrential rain and thunder! We didn't know it at the time but Eastern Australia was getting hit with some crazy La Nina weather that was wreaking havoc all up the coast. The rain we were getting was washing out roads and cutting power all over the place. In fact, when we went to check out, the ladies at the front desk let us know that they would have to run the transaction later because all the ATM and credit card lines were down in Port Douglas.
So as we started our drive south things were a little hairy for a while. Once again, I was happy to have Shaun at the wheel. We were driving from Port Douglas to Townsville, roughly a 4-5 hour drive and then we would stop for the night before continuing on the next day to Airlie Beach on the Whitsunday Coast. Fortunately, the downpours came intermittently, so there were a few spots of clear driving on the way to Townsville, but by the time we arrived we were both pretty wiped out. We were so beat that we literally took the first lodging we found, a Holiday Inn right on the main drag. It was a little more than we wanted to pay, but it had free parking, a rooftop pool, and it was so close to everything that we could just walk anywhere.
Townsville was really supposed to just be a place to sleep on the way to the Whitsundays, but we both thought it was quite cute. We had dinner at a place called the Brewery that served good pub food and then crashed at the hotel. When we got up in the morning there was a big market going on downstairs so we walked around the market and picked up some croissants from a bakery stand and iced coffees for breakfast. Then we swam at the rooftop pool for a little while before checking out and hitting the road again.
The drive to the Whitsundays was uneventful, thank goodness. We had called the Big 4 Holiday park in Airlie Beach to see if they had any cabins and since it was a little more expensive than the other parks, Shaun asked if they had any specials. As luck would have it they had a Stay 3 nights, get 1 free special, so we took it! I must say, we were more than a little excited to stay in one place for 4 nights! It was pouring again when we arrived, so we headed to the grocery store and stocked up on food. We bought salad fixings, herbs, garlic, fresh fruit and cheese, crackers, milk, chicken and veggies. But we were on the coast so we both wanted some seafood! When we saw they had local shrimp on sale cheap, we bought some of those and a box of pasta. That night we had Shrimp Scampi for dinner. It was one of my favorite meals of the trip and the ingredients cost about 10 dollars total. Hooray for inexpensive seafood!
The next day we spent some time exploring Airlie Beach. The downtown was cute, but pretty touristy. When we saw the prices they were charging at the local restaurants we were pretty glad we were cooking at home. One thing I did purchase though was a pair of cheap wide-brimmed hats. (Different styles of course!) The sun here is so strong that even with 30 plus sunscreen it can still burn you. A nice big hat offers a little extra shade, which I suppose is why everyone wears them!
With my new hat protecting my face, we spent much of the afternoon at the Airlie Beach Lagoon. The Lagoon, which was built in 2001, is right off the ocean and is surrounded by grassy hillsides shaded by palm trees where you can relax and swim. Why would you choose a man-made lagoon over the ocean, you might ask? Two words: Box Jelllyfish. Unless you have your own stinger suit, you really do not want to go in these waters at this time of year. So the lagoon was the perfect solution.
The Airlie Beach Lagoon
That night we booked our adventure for the next day, another one of our must-do items on the Australia itinerary. The Whitsunday Islands is a series of 74 islands that run along the coast of Australia, just off the Great Barrier Reef. The real "thing to do" is to take a multi-night sailing trip along the coast, sleeping under the stars, but as you might expect that is quite expensive. We chose an all day catamaran excursion instead and it was just perfect for us.
Shaun relaxing on the boat on our sail out to the Islands
These three mermaids keep watch over Daydream Island
It was somewhat similar to the Great Barrier reef tour, except this one only had one snorkeling stop. The trip was really about seeing the islands and Whitehaven beach, a gorgeous seven kilometer stretch of beach along Whitsunday Island. The sand is so fine that it doesn't heat up. They suggest that you bring your jewelry along to the beach because the sand can be used to polish silver and gold. I can't vouch for that claim since I left anything expensive at home! In fact, I've been wearing the same pair of earrings since August of last year when we left for Europe. Luckily, they go with everything!
Beautiful Whitehaven Beach
Shaun, half stinger-suited on Whitehaven Beach
A storm rolled in while we were on the beach, but it was a warm rain.
As for the remainder of the day, there was one snorkeling stop (again with stinger suits) and a big barbecue lunch as well. But the most enjoyable part may just have been just sailing along, looking at the beautiful scenery as we passed by island after island. We met some nice fellow travelers and relaxed up on the deck as the boat sailed along. It was a great day.
The color of tthe coral was beautiful, but hard to capture
Here fishy, fishy!
Shaun on the way home, taking pictures
The rest of our time in Airlie Beach was very low key. It was still raining every night and sometimes in the afternoons, but we didn't care. We had our little cabin where we could cook and the holiday park was really nice. It had a big lagoon pool where we hung out when it was sunny and hot. So we read books and cooked and swam and did some little housekeeping things, like the laundry. By the time we left on the 1st of March we were relaxed and ready for the last whirlwind stops in Australia, Brisbane and Sydney.
Farewell to the Great Barrier Reef!
No comments:
Post a Comment